Jason Pettus – Editor

From 2007 to 2017 I was the owner of the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, which published 40 books for total distribution of over 20,000 copies. Along the way, CCLaP's books won or were finalists for a half-dozen awards, including the Pushcart Prize, the Lambda Award for LGBTQ literature, and the Independent Publisher Book Award; and the center itself was named one of the 10 best indie presses in the United States by both BookRiot and Poets & Writers magazine.

Now I bring that same award-winning deep editing experience to your own self-published or small-press manuscript, helping you hone it with a fine knife into the best book it can possibly be. I specialize in "developmental" editing (also known as "content editing"), taking a big-picture look at your manuscript and identifying strengths and weaknesses in plot, character, pacing, style and tone, and giving you no-bones advice about how "publishable" it currently is. I also regularly do copy editing (also known as "line editing"), focusing in on a word-by-word basis to correct mistakes in what my industry calls GUPS (grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling).

For self-publishing writers, my rate for either of these services is 1 cent per word, which works out for me to $25 per hour since I edit at a rate of 2,500 words per hour. If you need both, that's a grand total of 2 cents per word. To determine what my fee would be for your manuscript, take its word count and multiply by either 0.01 or 0.02, depending on the situation. I can promise to finish at least 10,000 words each weekday, so again some simple math will show you how long it would take me to complete your manuscript. For corporate clients, or work that falls under that kind of purview (such as editing website copy), I charge 5 cents per word; please contact me directly for more details.

See my portfolio section for links to some of the books I've recently worked on, some of the books CCLaP still has for sale at Amazon, and some of the praise my books have garnered over the years from such publications as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, the Chicago Tribune, HTMLGIANT, and more. I look forward to hearing from you.

RECENT CLIENT TESTIMONIALS (HIGHLIGHTS)

"After working with Jason via Upwork for my debut novel 'Furlough,' I again hired him for my second novel 'Dead Reckoning,' as I had then considered him having been extremely competent in his work as a copy/line editor on my first project. My goal was to once again have him provide line/copy editing for my second project, and he did so, including the added service of some developmental notes, as well as being very instrumental in arranging both books' chapters in such a way that they became more cohesive and effective in the larger sense. Despite Dead Reckoning being a shorter novel, it wasn't by much—490 published pages, which Jason did an admirable job of error-finding, proofing, and overall cutting approximately 10,000 words to make my novel crisper and easier for readers to consume. I was dead set on getting the final proof down to below 500 words—a huge want on my part, since my first novel had been over that. Jason succeeded in doing that, all while retaining the book's most important aspects of story, characterization, and flow. Already, I have received numerous positive remarks about my novel's tight edit, and personally, I couldn't be happier with the way Dead Reckoning came out. Aside from his skill at sharpening a manuscript, he is also adept at many aspects of the book publishing industry, with him having once run a small press. In this respect, he has been enthusiastic about seeing my book succeed, to include offering advice on marketing and publicizing opportunities for me. I would certainly hire Jason again for any editing services, whether it be for non-fiction, short-stories, or future novel projects. If you're looking for a savvy professional with good communication skills to edit any length of work, for a traditional or self-published book, look no further." —Jacob Moon [cross-genre crime/supernatural]

"Perfect mix of experience and skill. Provided valuable feedback on the book as we went along. Jason didn't just edit the book, he taught me a few things as well. Moreover, at the end of the work, he gave me some time to advise on how to proceed forward, without charging money for it. Great resource, great guy!" —Ksenia Belova [Gothic romance]

"Jason was an absolutely invaluable part of editing and revising my short story collection. We worked together to bring the best out of my ideas without sacrificing the original voice. Jason found mistakes (grammar, syntax, spelling) that would’ve taken me months to catch if I had self-edited. He also provided creative input upon my request and pointed out plot inconsistencies, continuity errors and even fact checked some of the story’s elements. I recommend working with Jason on multiple projects, as he quickly achieves a sense of your personal style and keeps your story’s original magic by deciphering between intentional stylization and unintentional errors when editing. Jason also has a background in indie literature publishing, and can provide next steps for your work as far as getting it out in the world." —Travis Dahlke [Lovecraftian horror]